COVID19: Outlining a Positive Mindset
Are your days spent trawling through the internet in search of substance? After all, you have time on your side. Or do you?
Monday 23rd March 2020 marked the dawn of lockdown in the UK. As the virus spread across the world we sat waiting for the tsunami to hit our shores. COVID arrived and resulted in the country quarantined to suppress the spread.
I write this on 29th April 2020. Still in lockdown and the virus continues to affect lives across the world.
It is difficult to comprehend the death toll and the ripple effect that this virus has had on the families of the most severely affected.
This is incomparable to the issue of boredom but this will be my muse today. Boredom is simply negative energy.
If the virus doesn't get you, negativity will.
I work as a freelance writer. Hopefully, this shows! Unfortunately, a large percentage of my work has been affected by the current climate. While the temptation is to let the negativity take hold, like all of life's adversities I try and follow a different route.
I tell you this only for some perspective on my words. Like many, I'm not currently in a privileged employment situation.
While I am confident of an upturn in fortune. My fear is that I will sit on the wrong side of history and this is my drive. When sanctions are lifted I want something to show as a trophy to document this strange time. I am determined to turn a very negative situation into a positive one.
What did you do when the 2020 lockdown was imposed?
I have and will be taking inspiration from Isaac Newton who thrived in isolation, describing it as one of his most productive periods. During the bubonic plague, Newton was sent home from his studies. With space to breathe and free from the shackles of the curriculum, he gazed out of his window at a fortuitously placed tree. It was during this time as he formulated his law of gravity.
He wasn't the only one to take advantage of the free time. It is also believed Shakespeare wrote King Lear during a lockdown. The magnitude of these achievements is enough to make you feel quite guilty. What have you done today?
Of course, our spare time might not consist of formulating a theory that will change the way we view the world but there is plenty to be said for trying.
How many times have we pondered the home comforts whilst we are at work? We frequently react negatively to a child's proclamation of boredom during school breaks. We spend so much of our time thinking about what we need to do or what we should have done. Now we have the opportunity.
The book you wanted to read? The language you wanted to learn? The painting you wanted to paint? The instrument that you wanted to master? The song you wanted to write? The podcast you wanted to start? The poetry you wanted to draft? The 10 minutes of meditation you wanted to try? The call to your long lost friends?
We will never have this time again and we may realise it too late. Use this time as a gift. All obstacles are just mere challenges on your path. Positivity is the mantra.
Of course, we will all have our ups and down in this troubled period so it is important not to be hard on yourself. However, remember today might be the day to try that thing that you've always put off. Embrace the goal that scares you.
I will leave you with the music video to 'Love Don't Hold Me Back'. A video that I created during lockdown but I should have completed long before..... I suppose I just never had the time.
Wishing you health, in body and mind.
Now, where's my guitar?
Neal
PS. Let me know your lockdown achievements.